HIT US documentary series Making a Murder, podcast Serial and dramedy Orange Is the New Black have fuelled a public fascination with the American justice system.

Now Channel 4 has acquired A+E Networks’ 60 Days In, to be renamed 60 Days in Jail — a 12-part docu-series that follows seven ordinary people, who have been charged with no crime, posing as inmates in an Indiana county jail.

He said: “It was no secret that the Clark County Jail had problems and we needed to take quick control.

“The only way to truly understand what was going on in the jail was to implement innocent participants into the system to provide first-hand unbiased intelligence.”

Captain and public information officer Scottie Maples helps prepare the participants before they’re placed in jail. They’re given backstories, taught the rules of inmate culture and given instructions on how to stay safe.

Who are the volunteers?

The fake inmates, who were handpicked by Sheriff Noel, include Barbra, a stay-at-home mum; Isaiah, a 19-year-old whose brother is incarcerated; Jeff, an aspiring correctional officer; Maryum, a social worker and the eldest daughter of Muhammad Ali; Robert, a substitute teacher; Tami, a former police officer; and Zac, an ex-marine.

Each has their own reason for participating in the programme — Zac, for example, aims to become a DEA agent and thinks his time in the jail will provide useful insight; Robert wants to use the experience to teach students about the consequences of their decisions; and Isaiah wants to understand what his brother is going through.